Burke Nicholson was many things: Son of the South. Golfer. Scottish Baron. World traveller. Philanthropist. Husband. Father. However, he played one role that defined him more and informed the other aspects of his life differently than all of the others: visionary Coca-Cola executive.
The chronicle of his life is in large part a firsthand account of Coca-Cola’s development into and emergence as the globally recognized brand it is today as he experienced it as one of the pioneers on the international side of the business. The history of Coca-Cola cannot be told without him, just as his life cannot be recounted without the soft drink. The two are profoundly intertwined.
Having started out in his late teens working on Coca-Cola delivery trucks in London while he waited for sessions at the London School of Economics to begin, he rose through the ranks to ultimately become chairman of Coca-Cola Europe. During his long and storied career, he had opportunities of which most “Buckhead Boys” could only dream—from negotiating behind the Iron Curtain to having an audience with the Queen.
Although his memoir is perhaps ostensibly an historical narrative and a tale of engagement on the battlefield of business, it is also a great love story, the relation of a lifelong romance.